A journal can help us slow down, pay attention to details that get lost in our memories. And details are what make the scene. A story based in New Orleans becomes that much richer when sprinkled with tiny details.

Write down your nightly dreams, or something that sparks a memory within you (like a shadow against the sidewalk) or your diet for the day. Anything. Just write in it.

I didn’t believe in journals for a long time. Then I had a teacher require one and I discovered how much richer my writing became from having a constant source to draw from and refer back to. I’d say a good one-third to one-fourth of my notebooks are filled with taped in scraps: scribblings on napkins, pictures that grab my imagination, printed newsletters, and tons of newspaper clippings.

Why should we clog our creative centers in our brains trying to remember things that we can just jot down?

Like a pitcher of water that is emptied and then refilled, so your creative juices will refill your mind as you move the most important ones onto paper.

#journal #amwriting

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About Wendy L. Koenig

I was born in Colorado, but raised on a small homestead in Illinois. I served in the USAF right out of high school. After my stint in the military was finished, I returned home and had a horse stable. My first piece to be printed was a short children’s fiction, Jet’s Stormy Adventure, serialized in The Illinois Horse Network. It was a natural fit, given my business. Later, I attended University of Iowa's famed summer workshops and writing programs. Since that time, I have authored and co-authored numerous books. Several of my novels and short stories have won international awards and have appeared in multiple venues.